Headaches…There’s More Than Just One Type
By Jim Hendricks, DC
headache is pain or discomfort in the head, neck or face area that can be single or recurrent in nature and localized to more than one area at a time. Headache pain may have many different qualities and can be constant or intermittent in frequency. Some headaches may last only seconds or minutes, whereas others last hours or even days. They may occur on a regular basis or less frequently as well. However, not all headaches are the same and the cause is sometimes not completely understood. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), as many as 45 million Americans suffer from severe headaches and result in more than 8 million doctor visits per year. The American Council for Headache Education (ACHE) reports that nearly 90 percent of men and 95 percent of women have had at least one headache in the past year.
A Tension Headaches
Tension type headaches are the most common and often are the result of tem- porary stress, anxiety, fatigue or anger. Symptoms include soreness in your temples, a tightening band-like feeling around your head, pressure sensations, and contracted head and neck muscles. The pain is usually a continuous, dull, steady pain and surfaces in your forehead, temples or the back of your head or neck and may also include tightness in your neck as well. The head- ache has a slow onset and usually hurts on
6 Essential Living Maine ~ July/August 2014
both sides of the head. Tension headaches can be either episodic or chronic in nature depending on the underlying precipitat- ing factors and its duration. Precipitating factors may include: poor posture; arthritis (particularly cervical arthritis); disorders in the neck muscles, bones or discs; eye strain; misalignment of teeth or jaw; depression or other emotional factors.
Cervicogenic Headaches
Cervicogenic headaches are caused from an underlying dysfunction of the neck or cervical spine. The pain can be caused from trauma to the cervical spine, cervi- cal misalignment, fatigue, muscular sprain/ strains or tension, prior surgery, cervical arthritis or disorders of the intervertebral discs and vertebral joints themselves. The headache can also be a referral of pain from muscular trigger points in the neck and shoulder blade area, causing pain in the forehead, around the eyes or at the back of head. The fi rst 2-3 vertebral joints of the cervical spine are responsible for nearly half the motion of the entire neck and head. This results in a continuous amount of repeti- tive stress and strain and may contribute to cervical pain and headache.
Migraines Migraine headaches are a form of
vascular headaches because they are as- sociated with vasodilatation (enlargement) of the temporal artery. When a migraine
starts, the temporal artery enlarges stretch- ing the nerves that surround it, causing the release chemicals that lead to infl amma- tion and pain. The headache may occur on one or both sides of the head, is generally throbbing or pounding in quality and may last a few hours or possibly a few days. It may also cause the following symptoms: sensitivity to light or sound, nausea and/or vomiting, abdominal discomfort or sweat- ing. Some migraines may occur with what is called an aura. The aura begins before the actual onset of the headache and can result in visual disturbances (see dots or fl ashing lights, tunnel vision or blind spots) and can also include disturbances in hearing, smell and taste. Migraines can be precipitated by the following: stress, sleep disturbances, fatigue, certain foods (i.e. chocolate, pea- nuts, and red wine), caffeine, alcohol or the menstrual cycle.
Cluster Headaches These occur in cyclical patterns or
clusters, which gives the condition its name. Cluster headache is one of the most pain- ful types of headache. It will commonly awaken you in the middle of the night with intense pain in or around one eye on one side of your head. Unfortunate bouts of the headaches or “cluster periods,” may last from weeks to months, usually followed by remission periods when the headache at- tacks stop completely. The pain of a cluster headache is often described as sharp, pen- etrating or burning. People with this condi-
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